Mail-box.



E. V. KNIGHT & G. E. GASSATT.

MAIL BOX.

APPLICATION FILED JUNI: '1, 1911.

, 1,039,546. Patented sept.24,1912.

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UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.

EUGENE v. lKNIcrnT AND CLARENCE E. cAssATT, 0E NEW ALBANY, INDIANA.`

MAIL-Box.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 24, 1912i.'

Application flied June 7, 1911. serial No. 631,850.

To alt whom it may comme:

Be it known thatwe, EUGENE V. KNIGHT and CLARENCE E. CAssA'rT, citizens of the United States, residing at New Albany, in the county of Floyd and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Mail-Box, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in mail boxes.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of mail boxes, and to provide a simple, inexpensive and eiii cient mail box, adapted to safely hold mail matter, and capable when released from a catch of opening automatically and of insuring a rapid and complete discharge of its contents.

lith these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction and novel combination of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended; it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion, size and minor details of construction, within the scope of the claims, may be resorted to without departingr from the spirit or sacri ticing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a front elevation of a mail box, constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. Q is a vertical sectional view, taken substantially on the line 9 2 of Fig. 1, the mail box being shown closed in full lines and open in dotted lines. Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 1 is a sectional view on the line 4 4 of Fig. "2. Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view on the iine of Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view, taken substantially on the line G G of Fig. 2.

Like numerals of reference designate cor` responding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1n the accompanying drawings in which is illustrated the preferred form of the inven tion, 1 designates a .mail box, constructed of sheet metal, or other suitable material and consisting of a front wall, side walls 2 and top and bottom walls 3 and 4L. and forming the body of the mail box. The mail box is open at the back and is connected by hinges 5 with a rear wall or back 6, against which the mail box closes and from which the mail box swings in the opening movement thereof.

rl`he hinges 5, which are located at the inner rear edge of the top 3 of the mail box, may be of any desired construction, and when the mail box swings outwardly, as illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 2 of the drawings, it ls opened for the discharge of its contents. 1n the upper portion of the front wall is cut a slot 6"l to permit letters and other mail matter to be inserted in the mail. box, and a portion of the metal cut to form the slot 3@ is extended inwardly and curved outward 'slightly to provide a guard flange 7. The

bottom Lt of the mail box is inclined and extends upwardly and outwardly from the back C in order to cause mail matter 8 to assume an inclined position within the mail box with its upper end below the guard flange, so that easy extraction of mail mat ter from the box is prevented. At the top of the slot isformed an outwardly and downwardly extending liange 9. which cocperates with the guard flange and prevents access to the contents of the mail box.

The mail box, which is secured in its closed position by a catch 10, is automatically swung outwardly and upwardly .by a pair of springs 11, consisting of coils and having inner and outer arms 12 and 13.

The inner arms 12 are suitably secured toy the back G, and t-he other arms 13 extend outwardly from the coils of the springs and bear against the inner or lower face of the top of the box, whereby the springs are adapted to swing the mail box outwardly on its hinges 5. The catch 10, which is constructed of suitable resilient material, consists of a shank or body portion secured to the bottom at the inner face thereof by rivets 14, or other suitable fastening devices and spaced from the bottom by a plate or piece 15, interposed bet-Ween the bottom and the attached end of the shank or body portion of the catch. The other end of the shank of the catch is provided with an approximately V-shaped head 16, forming a vertical shoulder and adapted to engage a keeper plate 17, secured to the back 6 and extending across an opening 18 thereof. The catch securely holds the box closed, and it is disengaged from the keeper 17 by means of a push button 19, mounted in a vertical opening 20 at the lower edge of the back and provided at its upper end with a horizontal projecting flange 21, which extends beneath the head of the catch, whereby when the push button is raised by the finger of the operator, the catch will be disengaged from the keeper to permit the springs 1l to open the mail box automatically. The push butto-n is normally main tained in a depressed posit-ion by means of a spring 2Q., secured at one end to the back and provided at its other end with an approximately U-shaped loop 23, which engages the head or upper end of the push button. The free terminal 2li of the springs is bent downwardly and embedded in the upper end of the push button. The flange 21 of the push button besides disengaging the catch from the keeper also operates as stop for limiting the dowmvard movement of the push button. The mail box may be employed either with or without a key operated lock 25, and when one is employed, the engaging member 2G thereof will extend into a recess 27 of the push button and lock the latter against upward movement to prevent the mail box from being opened with out the use of a key. The lock 25 may be of any preferred construction, and it is mounted in a suitable recess or opening of the back 6 and is carried by the same. The back 6 is designed to be screwed or otherwise secured to a suitable support.

In order to insure a complete and rapid discharge of the contents of the mail box When the same is opened, the device is equipped with an approximately U-shaped frame 2S, constructed of stout wire, or other suitable material and composed of two sides and a connecting portion. The frame 2S is arranged horizontally, and its sides are suitably secured to the back 6 and extend forwardly and outwardly from the same. In Fig. 3 of the drawings, the sides are shown piercing the back 6 with their terminals 29 bent at right angles and secured to the back by staples 30, but the sides may be secured to the back in any other desired manner. The projecting frame lies within recesses 31 and 32 of the sides and front of the mail box, so as not to form interior projections. The recesses 31 of the sides of the box are tapered to provide suiiicient space to permit the letter box to swing inwardly and outwardly. The lower portion of the letters and other mail matter resting upon the bottom of the mail box are arranged within the opening of the fixed frame, and when the mail box is swung outwardly, the contents thereof are rapidly and completely discharged from the mail box. The frame insures a complete emptying of the contents of the box, so that there will be no liability of a letter or other piece of mail matter being accidentally left within the same.

The mail box is equipped at the top with spaced resilient clips or clamps 33, secured at their inner ends to the top of the mail box adjacent to the hinged edge thereof and extending forwardly and outwardly and adapted to hold news papers and various other parcels of a size not adapted to be placed within the mail box.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A mail box including a fixed back, and a body open at the rear and composed of a `front wall and top, bottom and side walls and hinged at the rear edge of its top wall to the said back and adapted to swing outwardly and inwardly to open and close the mail box, and means for securing the mail box in its closed position.

2. A mail box including a fixed back, and a body open at the rear and composed of a front wall and top, bottom and side walls and hinged at the rear edge of its 'top wall to the said back and adapted to swing outwardly and inwardly to open and close the mail box, spaced springs located within the mail box and mounted on the fixed back adjacent to the inner face of the said top wall and having outwardly extending arms bean ing against 'the same to swing the body of the mail box outwardly and upwardly, and means for securing the mail box in its closed position.

3. A mail box including a fixed back, and a body open at the rear and composed of a front wall and top, bottom and side walls and hinged at the rear edge of its top wall to the said back and adapted to swing outi wardly and inwardly to open and close the mail box, a catch mounted o-n the bottom wall of the mail box and engaging the fixed back, and a button located beneath the catch and extending upwardly from the lower edge of the fixed back and movable vertically to release the catch.

Ll. A mail box including a fixed back, and a body open at the rear and composed of a front wall and top, bottom and side walls and hinged at the rear edge of its 'top wall to the said back and adapted to swing outwardly and inwardly to open and close the mail box, a catch mounted on the bottom wall of the mail box and engaging the fixed back, a button located beneath the catch and extending upwardly from the lower edge of the xed back and movable vertically to release the catch, and key controlled means mounted on the fixed back below the body portion of the mail box for holding the button against upward movement.

5. A mail box including a fixed back, and a body open at the rear and composed of a front wall and top, bottom and side walls and hinged at the rear edge of its top wall to the said back and adapted to swing outwardly and inwardly to open and close the mail box, a catch mounted on the bottom wall of the mail box and engaging the fixed back, a button located beneath the catch and extending upwardly from the lower edge of the fixed back and movable vertically to release the catch, said button being provided at one side with a recess forming a shoulder, and key controlled locking mechanism mounted on the fixed back at one side of the button and provided with a projecting engaging member arranged to extend into the recess of the button to hold the same against upward movement.

6. A mail box including a fixed back provided adjacent to the lower edge with an opening, a body open at the rear and composed of a front wall and top, bottom and side walls and hinged at the top to swing outwardly and upwardly, a keeper mounted within the opening of the xed back, a catch carried by the bottom wall and arranged to extend into t-he said opening to engage the keeper, and a button extending from the lower edge of the back to the said opening and provided at the top with a head located beneath the catch, said button being movable vertically to carry the catch out of engagement with the keeper.

7. A metallic mail box provided at the front with a slot formed by partially severing the metal, the partially severed portion being bent inwardly at the bottom of the slot and forming an inwardly extending guard flange, said mail box being also provided with an inclined bottom extending downwardly and rearwardly from the front wall to cause the upper ends of letters and other mail matter to lie beneath the guard flange.

8. A mail box including a fixed back, a body open at the rear and composed of a front wall and top, bottom and side walls and hinged at the top so as to swing outwardly and upwardly, and a stationary open frame mounted on the fixed back and ex' tending into the body of the mail box and arranged adjacent to the inner faces of the side and front walls so as to engage the con tents of the same, whereby when the letter box is opened the entire contents thereof will be withdrawn by the said frame.

9. The combination with a supporting back, of a mail box hinged at the top to the back and arranged to swing outwardly and inwardly therefrom to open and close it, said mail box being provided at its sides and front with grooves, and an open frame mounted on the said back and lying within the said grooves when the mail box 1s closed and adapted to withdraw the contents of the mail box from the same when the mail box is opened.

l0. The combination with a supporting back, of a mail box hinged at the top to the back and-arranged to swing outwardly and inwardly therefrom to open and close it, said mail box being provided at its sides and front with grooves, the grooves at the sides of the mail box being tapered, and a U- shaped frame projecting outwardly from the back and arranged within the said grooves when the mail box is closed and adapted to withdraw the contents of the mail box from the same when the mail box is opened.

In testimony, that we claim the foregoing as our own, we have hereto aiiixed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

EUGENE V. KNIGHT. CLARENCE E. CASSATT.

Witnesses:

EvAR'r S. GWIN, W. A. GADIENT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for iive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

